5 answers
Esmeralda
Student
Gallup, New Mexico
3
Questions
Asked
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What do you on your normal or busy day as a nurse?
What different things do you do throughout your day? What are different types of things do you do like running tests or performing different types of skills. #medical #nurse #registerdnurse #medicine #healthcare
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5 answers
Raquel Davis
Registered Nurse, premed student
148
Answers
Providence, Rhode Island
Updated
Raquel’s Answer
Hi Esmerelda,
Depending on what kind of nurse you are will affect what your day looks like. But a typical day for a nurse in a hospital on a med-surg, neuro, tele, nephro, etc. floor will start with getting report on your patients depending on your floor ranging from 4-6 usually. After getting report many nurses will sit down to look up their patients and read H&Ps, most recent doctors notes, vital signs, labs, imaging, orders, and medications. This allows the nurse to have a good picture of what each patients situation is as well as what needs to be done for them, allowing the nurse to start organizing their day. Then there’s the first med pass which often takes around 2 hours to complete. You give each patient all of their ordered medications and perform a physical assessment on them. Some nurses chart in the room and others wait and chart at the nurses station. There will be other meds that are due throughout the shift as well. After the med pass and assessments are complete there are always other things going on such as tasks to perform (IV placement, Foley catheter placement...) if you are on day shift there will be doctors rounding on patients that you will need to talk to, discharges, and admissions. There is an afternoon assessment as well. Being a nurse is busy and what you do varies from day to day based on your patients and what is going on, but I hope this helps give you a general idea of what it may look like.
Depending on what kind of nurse you are will affect what your day looks like. But a typical day for a nurse in a hospital on a med-surg, neuro, tele, nephro, etc. floor will start with getting report on your patients depending on your floor ranging from 4-6 usually. After getting report many nurses will sit down to look up their patients and read H&Ps, most recent doctors notes, vital signs, labs, imaging, orders, and medications. This allows the nurse to have a good picture of what each patients situation is as well as what needs to be done for them, allowing the nurse to start organizing their day. Then there’s the first med pass which often takes around 2 hours to complete. You give each patient all of their ordered medications and perform a physical assessment on them. Some nurses chart in the room and others wait and chart at the nurses station. There will be other meds that are due throughout the shift as well. After the med pass and assessments are complete there are always other things going on such as tasks to perform (IV placement, Foley catheter placement...) if you are on day shift there will be doctors rounding on patients that you will need to talk to, discharges, and admissions. There is an afternoon assessment as well. Being a nurse is busy and what you do varies from day to day based on your patients and what is going on, but I hope this helps give you a general idea of what it may look like.
Thank you so much for answering my question!
Esmeralda
Suzanne Swain Brint
Nursing
169
Answers
Santa Monica, California
Updated
Suzanne’s Answer
Hi Esmeralda,
This is Sue and I am a retired cancer nurse. The majority of my career was spent working in the outpatient department as a clinical research nurse. We put patients on experimental therapies with new drugs and or surgeries/radiation for a variety of cancer diagnosis.
My days were long Monday through Friday. I was on call 24/7 for emergencies. I would get into work, check my email and phone messages and respond to anything important. Then I would set up for clinic. Taking care of clinical trial patients is complicated as they require special tests and procedures. I would get all the test tubes to the correct departments. I would double check to see that all the required lab tests were ordered. I would see the patients in clinic and assess them for side effects and provide support/education. If they were getting treatment, I had to triple check the orders. Sometimes, I was the only person authorized to give the experimental drug.
After seeing the patients, I would make sure everything was documented perfectly or as perfectly as possible. The information from the visit had to be entered into a database. I did this with the help of research associates. If, by any chance, a patient came into clinic sick, I sometimes had to race them to the emergency department for care. I could not go home until all patients were seen and the documentation was completed.
It was hard. It was exhausting some days. But the satisfaction of improving the lives of cancer patients was immense. No two days were alike. I also worked in the inpatient setting. Daily activities and shifts were somewhat more controlled although emergencies would occur routinely.
Being a registered nurse requires a solid educational base of knowledge and the ability to problem solve and think critically. This work also requires compassion and heart.
I hope this adds to the information you are seeking!
Best,
Sue, RN
This is Sue and I am a retired cancer nurse. The majority of my career was spent working in the outpatient department as a clinical research nurse. We put patients on experimental therapies with new drugs and or surgeries/radiation for a variety of cancer diagnosis.
My days were long Monday through Friday. I was on call 24/7 for emergencies. I would get into work, check my email and phone messages and respond to anything important. Then I would set up for clinic. Taking care of clinical trial patients is complicated as they require special tests and procedures. I would get all the test tubes to the correct departments. I would double check to see that all the required lab tests were ordered. I would see the patients in clinic and assess them for side effects and provide support/education. If they were getting treatment, I had to triple check the orders. Sometimes, I was the only person authorized to give the experimental drug.
After seeing the patients, I would make sure everything was documented perfectly or as perfectly as possible. The information from the visit had to be entered into a database. I did this with the help of research associates. If, by any chance, a patient came into clinic sick, I sometimes had to race them to the emergency department for care. I could not go home until all patients were seen and the documentation was completed.
It was hard. It was exhausting some days. But the satisfaction of improving the lives of cancer patients was immense. No two days were alike. I also worked in the inpatient setting. Daily activities and shifts were somewhat more controlled although emergencies would occur routinely.
Being a registered nurse requires a solid educational base of knowledge and the ability to problem solve and think critically. This work also requires compassion and heart.
I hope this adds to the information you are seeking!
Best,
Sue, RN
Thank you so much for answering my question sue!!!
Esmeralda
Sanober Charania
Registered Nurse (RN)
73
Answers
Chicago, Illinois
Updated
Sanober’s Answer
Hi Esmeralda!
Nurses' schedules vary on any given day, depending on patient needs and schedule. However, regardless of the specialty, nurses spend most of their day assessing patients, administering medications, running tests on patients (labs, taking them to MRI/CT, OR), carrying out doctors orders, and communicating with the healthcare team and patient's family.
Every day brings a new type of busyness!
Best of luck on your journey :)
Sanober
Nurses' schedules vary on any given day, depending on patient needs and schedule. However, regardless of the specialty, nurses spend most of their day assessing patients, administering medications, running tests on patients (labs, taking them to MRI/CT, OR), carrying out doctors orders, and communicating with the healthcare team and patient's family.
Every day brings a new type of busyness!
Best of luck on your journey :)
Sanober
Thank you so much for answering my question!!
Esmeralda
Angela Benton
Registered Nurse
1
Answer
Bedford, Texas
Updated
Angela’s Answer
Working on a medical surgical floor is very challenging. The day is very fast pace and includes taking care about 6 patients. You may have a charge nurse and a technician to assist you. The doctor will round on the patients everyday. The nurse carries out all doctors orders and advocates for the patients.
Thank you so much for answering my question!!!
Esmeralda
Janeen Hartis
Nurse
4
Answers
Athens, Georgia
Updated
Janeen’s Answer
Hi I am a nurse with an insurance company. There are so many different types of nursing. I am not an affiliate of this university, but the below link is a university website link that gives a concise breakdown of pertinent information about each type of nursing: https://www.gmercyu.edu/academics/learn/types-of-nurses.
Also, Here is a sample job template from a recruiter website. This lists typical skills the company wants in a job candidate: https://www.ziprecruiter.com/blog/nurse-job-description-sample-template/
I have worked in the areas of Community (Public) Health, Case Management, Med/Surg, Telemetry, Travel Nursing, Utilization Review, Nurse Auditing.
As aforementioned, I currently work with an insurance company in STARS Improvement with physicians and members of the health plan.
Insurance companies have plans which people sign up for. Many of these plans have a Star Rating System that measures the performance of plans based on quality of care and customer service among other categories. The categories are ranked between one to five stars, with five being the highest and one being the lowest.
Here is a breakdown of the categories:
Staying healthy: screenings, tests, and vaccines
Managing chronic (long-term) conditions
Plan responsiveness and care
Member complaints, problems getting services, and choosing to leave the plan
Health plan customer service
Part D (Medication Drug) plans are rated on how well they perform in the following four categories:
Drug plan customer service
Member complaints, problems getting services, and choosing to leave the plan
Member experience with the drug plan
Drug pricing and patient safety
So in a 'nutshell', my role is to make sure the physicians have what they need to service the patients of the plan. My job is to drive excellent customer service which increases the STARS ratings and the bolster the value of the healthcare plan.
Also, Here is a sample job template from a recruiter website. This lists typical skills the company wants in a job candidate: https://www.ziprecruiter.com/blog/nurse-job-description-sample-template/
I have worked in the areas of Community (Public) Health, Case Management, Med/Surg, Telemetry, Travel Nursing, Utilization Review, Nurse Auditing.
As aforementioned, I currently work with an insurance company in STARS Improvement with physicians and members of the health plan.
Insurance companies have plans which people sign up for. Many of these plans have a Star Rating System that measures the performance of plans based on quality of care and customer service among other categories. The categories are ranked between one to five stars, with five being the highest and one being the lowest.
Here is a breakdown of the categories:
Staying healthy: screenings, tests, and vaccines
Managing chronic (long-term) conditions
Plan responsiveness and care
Member complaints, problems getting services, and choosing to leave the plan
Health plan customer service
Part D (Medication Drug) plans are rated on how well they perform in the following four categories:
Drug plan customer service
Member complaints, problems getting services, and choosing to leave the plan
Member experience with the drug plan
Drug pricing and patient safety
So in a 'nutshell', my role is to make sure the physicians have what they need to service the patients of the plan. My job is to drive excellent customer service which increases the STARS ratings and the bolster the value of the healthcare plan.